Friday, 21st November 2008 - 13:16CET
Malta prepares for tough tourism year
"We need to stir up demand" - de Marco
Filming and editing: Paul Spiteri Lucas
The Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Mario de Marco, in a frank speech to hoteliers this morning outlined the problems facing tourism and the actions which need to be taken for the industry to at least maintain this year’s arrivals figures for next year.
He told the annual meeting of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association that tourism to Malta this year performed better than the European average and better than most if not all direct competitors. Despite a slowdown in the last part of the year, Malta expected to end the year with overall growth of around four to five percent, a record on an already record 2007, with arrivals reaching 1.3 million.
“The situation for next year, as our main source markets enter into a deeper recession, does not appear positive. The situation is further aggravated by the airline industry cutting seat capacity,” Dr de Marco said.
As a result, he said, the UK, Malta’s most important source market, was underserved by airlines. Germany, Malta’s second most important market, was back to being served only by two legacy carriers. Italy was performing below its capacity and France was still being served solely by Air Malta.
Opening up new routes, especially in the UK, remained a line of action the authorities were working on. The government published a call last month inviting airlines to express an interest in operating to Malta from three UK regional destinations, even if it acknowledged that getting airlines to commit nowadays was 10 times more difficult than it was a couple of years ago.
“Filling available seats should in theory be cheaper and easier than starting new routes. From my discussions with members of the trade, I concluded that this solution is highly underrated,” the parliamentary secretary said.
"We need to stir up demand. I would have wished that the problem we are facing today is simply one of accessibility. It is not. It is also a problem of stirring up demand to fill those seats that we have available on those markets that have been traditionally our core markets, on those markets that although secondary are important, and on those markets that are emerging.
“I have set up a special team which meets regularly to discuss tourism trends and propose intervention measures. I will keep insisting with this group and with MTA on the need to push up load factors from existing routes. I want MTA to carry out more intensive marketing campaigns, targeting those regions with low seat factors. Filling up those seats will make up for lost seat capacity from other routes.”
He said that Air Malta would as from next summer operate all its 12 aircraft on Malta routes and it was planning to introduce new routes.
“It is in our long term interest to do whatever we can to see these routes gain strength. I have in mind, particularly, the new French routes and the increased frequencies from German airports.”
Turning to product, Dr de Marco said Malta needed to better display what it was offering.
“We as a government are aware that we need to do more and in fact, we will be spending €120 million over the next years to improve our tourism product. But on this one the buck does not stop only with me or with government. It stops with all tourism operators not to mention all citizens. We all have our part to play in improving our tourism product.”
He stressed, however, that tourists also needed to enjoy good value for money.
“It is a shared responsibility amongst us all. By this I do not mean that we have to be cheapest on the market, but we can, and certainly should offer best value for money. It is the best competitive edge that we can have over other competing destinations in these arduous times.”
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Authorities need to work upon developing clear plans for the investment of gd infrastructural networks knowing that infrastructure is the 1st impression ppl get of a tourist dest.
I also agree with Mario Gauci that Malta is considered as a safe holiday dest and this aspect could easily attract families with children who can visit Malta and experience diff activities such as cultural tours, and other events that we can work upon to attract such market.
Now that we are getting into a world's recession, Malta has to think strategically in order to become competitive in our trs keeping in mind it is Malta's main economic pillar.
And this could be achieved if all the Maltese get together and work together towards the same aim and stop blaming one another. The voice of everyone could make a difference.
I am writing this at 1950 hrs on Sunday and if you go out in the streets of Sliema now ( a major tourist haven) you will see all this rubbish in the streets. And I do not mean only pieces of paper, dogs' shit etc but rubbish behind doors taken out after collection yesterday morning. A whole weekend !!! The cats and dogs always have a feast in the evening. And this from people who should know better.
This is what we have to eliminate as we have failed miserably in this,.We have tried but we failed. And this is what the majority of tourists complain about.
Mario de Marco should be dictating to hoteliers that the best standards need to be adhered to with relation to their business models: Health and Safety, conduct of staff, training of staff, training of suppliers such as taxi companies used etc etc etc. Why aren't hotel staffed tested on their concierge knowledge anymore? Why aren't the MHRA lobbying and pressuring for taxi's to be metered and buses better regulated?
These are the REAL issues which are still only being paid lip service, and as i've always said; during the good times we should have been improving these issues which everyone knows about, as opposed to waiting for the bad times to come when there's no money left in the pot to do anything about them.
People coming to and from Scotland has to go first to Manchester and then take a plane to Malta thus increasing expenses. We always seems to make it harder for the tourist to come here when there is a lot of competition from other countries.
The thousands of people who come to Malta by the cruiser liners really feel disgusted by the state of pavements we have along Lascaris Wharf and along Marsamxette Road. They also complain about the taxi drivers's attitude and the shabby way the karrozzin driver wears.
At these difficult times for the world economy, travellers will only travel at very low prices and only Ryanair can guarantee these prices. Just booked a flight for three persons to Italy for about Lm16 for all three. Prices of other low cost airlines such as German Wings, Volareweb and Easyjet are often not cheap and compare with prices offered by Airmalta, averaging between Lm80-Lm100 per person.
Tourism authorities should be running after low cost airlines to encourage them to start operations to Malta and not dreading the moment a low cost airlines show interest in a route because of the possible effect on Airmalta.
.OPEN MORE ROUTES TO LOW COST AIRLINES . Example more tourism growth in Latvia,Poland, Lithuania all because LOW COST AIRLINES . Open up Glasgow - Manchester - Copenhagen - Gatwick not Luton - Munich -- Doncaster - Dusseldorf - East Midlands - Eindoven - Hamburg - Lille - Warsaw .
PS:I would like to invite the HON Dr Mario DE Marco to visit the square on a sunday afternoon to see for himself.
If we want to compete in the tough tourism industry WE MUST TRAIN AND EDUCATE OUR WORK FORCE FROM TOP TO BOTTOM.
According to you I am a "little elve" (sic) because I "degrade" (sic) the country that gave me my name.
Well you are grossly mistaken. I love Malta and would never denigrate it. However those who govern (and supposedly oppose) are a totally different story .
Since you take such a keen interest in roads I suggest that you have a nice pleasant walk along the Victoria Lines starting from Targa Gap to Falka Gap. Take a walking stick and some wellies though. This is part of a scenic walk suggested to tourists. The surface is appalling. I have reported it to the Mosta Local Council. I had done the same when this council was PN run. It is now MLP run. Let's see if there has been a real change. I doubt it, not because there is not the willingness to improve the locality but because ther aren't the funds.
Even the streets around the church in Mosta are a shambles! So, Mr Vella, it is not I who am damaging Malta's image but the incompetent authorities!
I do not believe that I have to keep everywhere I go clean because I might get fined, but because I am self-disciplined.
We need to love this jewel of an Island more, and keep its environment clean. The authorities have to do their part too, by keeping our roads safe and in a healthy state. I believe that I am not getting value for my money (taxes).
As a consumer and tax-payer, I demand to live in a safe and healthy environment - this includes good roads (secondary roads included)
There is always more that one can do and should never stop trying to achieve the maximum. To do so require the efforts of all. Some of the thngs you bring up are the responsiblities of the Central/local Govt. others of that the server provider
Regarding Cleaneness, I ask why in certain Localities this is not the issue and others it is.
In regards to pollution the most offensive I found is the exhaust. Now that the Central Govt. is trying to addres the issue everyone is up in arms. EVerything come at a cost.
Although we depend on tourism as one of our major economical pillars yet year in year out we lament about the same short comings which are negatively affecting the tourism; shabby environment, overcharging lack of proper training for some of the operators in the catering industry, and substandard service.
So the authorities must ensure that the proper mechanism is in place to keep the environment clean 24*365, the catering outlets will deliver service at the required standard for a reasonable cost and the standard will remain constant all the year round.
We also have to decide what the infrastructure can sustain especially as regard power, water and effluent systems and pollution.
Thanks.
My suggestion then is to write to the appropraite ministry, Prior to doing so, I would ask the Local Council to confirm to you in writing what they have told you verbally.
Cannot agree more with you. But you didn't point this out in your post. Cleaneness should start with all of us and as a starter we should not litter. I for one, many times have pointed this out to others that have littered.
However at the end, the final responsibilty is that of the local Council to ensure that the lokal is kept clean and to ensure that those who are discharged of doing so, indeed do.
@ Mr Joe Vella
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and knowledge with us, I would go one further and state that we all responsible for ensuring that our streets and pavements are kept clean and not just that of the Local Council.
Your solution to everything seems to be to phone the local council.
But do you think that we would be sitting here venting our frustrations on this site, if all we had to do to resolve these issues was to do so?
Keeping our towns and Villages clean has to come from within us as individuals and not just the Local Councils
Thanks a lot for your interest. I pray to God that the authorities are as interested as your goodself.
We were told that the Central Government is responsible for the tarmacking of this road.
Maybe the Local Council is responsible for the filling-up of the crater-sized potholes, which unfortunately becomes worse after the first rains.
Thanks again.
Considering how many people are employed with the government can it be so difficult to have two guys driving around the Grand harbor in a Dingi and picking up dirt on a daily basis.
The dirt cannot leave the grand harbor and swim out to the open sea so it just accumulates and gets more.
Face it - that's the first impression cruise line passengers get when coming to Malta and then everybody wonders why they don't return.
The hotels, the airlines and everybody involved in the industry try really hard to provide a good product - the one failing us is the government.
Had a look at the Map. It seems that Triq id-Dwar is a local street. Have you enquired with the Mosta Local Council to see who is actually responsible for the said road paving.
One should start by doing his/her part. Cleaneness is the responsability of the Local Council.
If you are witnesing refuse collectors/contractors not carrying out thier responsibilies, as one would expect them to do, all you have to do is either call or visit the local Council Office and report them.
CAN ANYONE FROM THE MINISTRY OF INFRASTRUCTURE PLEASE NOTE - IN THE NAME OF MANY MALTESE AND FOR THE SAKE OF TOURISM - PLEASE REPAIR MOST OF OUR ROADS, ESPECIALLY IN THE OUTSKIRTS OF MOST TOWNS AND VILLAGES.
A case in point is TRIQ ID-DAWR, MOSTA. Can you please tarmac our street after 30 years of living here?
Many of our secondary roads are in a pitiful state. What does it take you ( yes you, minister), to wake up and spend some money from our hard-earned wages (taxes) to repair or tarmac our roads? How can we compete with our competitors when we leave these roads in these third-country conditions?
I know that the general election is some four years away, and unfortunately my voice will sound like a voice in the desert, but as a tax-paying citizen I expect that I live in a suitable environment.
HELLO, WAKEY WAKEY. DID YOU AT LEAST READ WHAT IS REALLY HURTING ME?????
In the old days, we use to talk of how unclean were some North African resorts, but as anyone who frequents these destinations can see for themselves, they have now got their act together and cleaned and tidied their resorts, and they do it day after day and not one off’s publicity stunts!
I do think that it is about time that the principle that has been extremely successful adopted with the Environmental Landscapes, which have done wonders with some our landscapes, roundabouts and traffic islands should be applied to our streets cleaning and refuse collection.
Some of the refuse collectors’/ contractors have the same mentality as the bus drivers, they just want and do dominate this service to suit them. One can see the morning mad dash to collect the rubbish, literally running from one spot to another and in their mad rush dropping litter on the roads, when they are paid to clean and not litter.
I wouldn't expect any better from a little elve like you. In all your comments you have to degrade the Country that gave you your name.
I live in Mellieha and thanks to our past/current local Council our roads are all paved and clean.
It is all well and good to have a state of the art hospital, widespread broadband internet, smart city and hi-tech industries. But tourists see a shabby, dirty country, potholed, crumbling roads and local wardens lurking round corners.
If I were a tourist I doubt that Malta would even be on my radar.
Any chance for our marketing bodies to consider;
a) establishing Malta on all tv news weather maps, ie: Sky, BBC, CNN, RTE', etc...
b) consider tapping more low cost routs, like Donegal, Belfast, Derry etc...
c) take Dr. Edward De Bono on board with his Thinking Palace idea..
plus suggest the over haul the public transport as should Malta offer free public transport it would surely value add this destination (believe it was a sound AD proposal)
There is something drastically wrong.
Taking absolutely nothing away from Dr Demarco we need tried and tested professionals for this job even if we have to import them, I hope he will take these type of pros on board.
We are here talking about probably the safest holiday destination in the world.
The Maltese businessman is greedy, employs people on starving wages and charges prices well over any western country. There is the problem. So tourists stay away because it is cheaper to go to other countries.
What about restarting flights to and from Scandinavian Destinations?
What about MTA making a serious review of the disastrous state most of the hotels and collective establishments in Malta are in? Does MTA take notice of the complaints by the tourists?
Most of the hotels are overrated and deliver a below standard service.
What about:
researching and attracting niche markets? not introducing the 50c/nite/pax as proposed in the budget, revising the water&electricity tariffs as these make the country much less competitive, upgrading our general environment from state of roads to cleanliness of beaches, etc.
If these issues and many others won't be tackled, Malta will continue to suffer as other destinations both established or newly emergent are delivering a better & cheaper overall package.